Heavy Song of the Week is a feature on Heavy Consequence breaking down the top metal and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week, the top spot goes to NILE for their epically titled new song “Chapter for Not Being Hung Upside Down…”.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more bizarre song title in 2024 than that of NILE’s new single, “Chapter for Not Being Hung Upside Down on a Stake in the Underworld and Made to Eat Feces by the Four Apes.”
If anything, that diabolical word stew should serve to prepare the listener for the kinetic, technically dense brutality of the music itself.
Despite being just over four minutes in length, this is a vicious track with frenzied percussion, whiplash stop-starts, and classic thrash riffs that faithfully nod to those of ’80s Sepultura and Slayer. Nothing sits still, as the band traverses an intricate arrangement that tests both the physical skill and sheer memorization of its players.
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Longtime fans of the band will also be appeased by the continued exploration of Egyptology, concepts which are as direct as ever on the forthcoming full-length The Underworld Awaits Us All. NILE might hail from South Carolina, but their artistic soul has long resided in ancient Egypt.
Honorable Mentions:
Kittie – “One Foot in the Grave”
The singles Kittie have dropped since breaking their hiatus showcased a leaner groove/thrash metal assault. Meanwhile, their latest offering “One Foot in the Grave” harkens back to Kittie’s origins during the peak of the nu-metal movement. The glossy vocal production is theatrical and very early 2000s, while the deliberate slam-chords and pop-punkish tempo change are characteristic of the Canadian band’s early material. Even if they’ve matured musically, Kittie haven’t lost sight of their roots.
Puscifer – “The Algorithm”
Puscifer are apt to use electronics and programmed production over guitars, but “The Algorithm” is more on the metallic side of their repertoire. The song is driven by sharp guitar stabs and a steady mid-tempo groove. There’s a bit more angst to it, which is befitting of the lyrical content. Maynard James Keenan is infamously anti-smartphone, and Puscifer have previously lamented social media addiction in their music. Here, Maynard and guitarist Mat Mitchell lay down their full thesis on “dopamine addiction through habitual social media use.”
Thou – “I Return as Chained and Bound to You”
The longest song on Thou’s new album Umbilical, “I Return as Chained and Bound to You” hits that swinging sludge sweetspot that the band has so often nailed over the years. Because the rest of the album runs at a faster clip, the slower tempo has even more impact, almost like one long six-minute drop in the context of the LP’s running order. The distorted, red-lined production is apt and only adds to the aesthetics of filth and disgust.
